Stark effect measurements of molecular dipole moments

Abstract

Attention is drawn to the advantage of using certain selected a-type transitions of near-symmetric prolate asymmetric tops for precise determination of �b or �c in such molecules. For two such molecules, propynal and (E)-crotonaldehyde, new values of �b have been determined (Cm): propynal �b = 4.897(50) × 10-30 (E)-crotonaldehyde �b = 3.403(59) × 10-30 which are substantially different from those previously published. Some other uses of Stark-effect measurements on such selected transitions are briefly indicated.